A Chance to Win: A Complete Guide to Physical Training for Football

This book of over 400 pages focuses on all aspects of physical training for football, including strength and power development through resistance training, as well as speed and agility training. It is authored by two of the top strength experts in America. Dr. Mike Gentry is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Virginia Tech and Dr. Tony Caterisano is a World Champion Powerlifter and Professor of Exercise Physiology at Furman University.

Other chapters include nutrition, training cycle development, motivation, and a menu of lifts and drills with specific coaching points for each. The book also provides week-by-week programs for an entire season, at three levels of experience (beginner, intermediate and advanced). The book is written at a level appropriate for any coach, parent, or player (from middle school through college level) interested in developing a sound program of strength and conditioning for football or any sport that requires speed and power.

Mike Gentry, Ed.D., CSCS, MSCC

Dr. Mike Gentry has spent the last 15 years as the Virginia Tech Director of Strength and Condition, and Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Performance. His duties include overseeing the strength and conditioning training of athletes in all 21 varsity sports at Virginia Tech. He is directly involved in the training of the football, and men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as managing the programs for nutrition.

A native of Durham N.C., Gentry received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Carolina University in 1979 and received his master’s degree from The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in 1981. He received his doctorate in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis in motor development, from Virginia Tech in 1999.

Gentry worked as a high school football coach in Black Mountain N.C. before becoming an assistant strength coach at UNC in 1980. He then served as head strength coach at East Carolina University in 1983 prior to heading up the program at Virginia Tech in 1987. During all of this time, coach Gentry has stayed active as a competitive powerlifter earning several state and regional titles. He remains active in masters level powerlifting.

In 1995 and 1996, Gentry was recognized, by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as a finalist for the national Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year. He has also presented papers at both the NSCA and American College of Sports Medicine National meetings.

Tony Caterisano Ph.D., FACSM, CSCS*D

Dr. Tony Caterisano has spent the last 19 years as a Professor of Exercise Physiology in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.. He has presented and published dozens of research papers focusing on resistance training. This includes presentations at both American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) national meetings, and publications in such journals as The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, and Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of both The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and Strength and Conditioning Journal (both of which are official journals of the NSCA). Dr. Caterisano is also a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine.

Caterisano earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York – Brockport in 1974, and his master’s degree from The University of Connecticut in 1979. He spent a year at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in pre-doctoral study in 1980 and completed his doctorate at The University of Connecticut in 1984.

In addition to his teaching duties at Furman University, Caterisano served as Head Wrestling Coach of the varsity wrestling program at Furman from 1984 to 1991. An avid powerlifter, Caterisano has continued to compete at the Masters level capturing several state titles as well as national titles in 2001 and 2002. In 2002 he won his first World Championship in the drug-free, World Natural Powerlifting Federation.